The field of embroidery has experienced a number of developments in recent years as a result of more efficient embroidery operations, systems, and devices. With an eye toward speeding the embroidery process on objects of all types, including shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, pant legs, shirt sleeves, bags, towels, sheets, etc., many devices and methods have appeared in the marketplace to make the embroidery process more efficient and accurate. One area in which such developments have occurred is the process (and related devices) by which objects to be embroidered are framed or "hooped".
In the hooping process, an object which is to be embroidered is typically draped over or placed upon a work surface. A pair of mating hoops is then secured around the area of the object to be embroidered. Specifically, one of the pair of hoops is placed on one side of the object and another is placed on the opposite side of the object, and then the two hoops are pressed together (one inside the other) with the area of the object to be embroidered being caught therebetween and within the hoops. This hooping process is necessary to keep the material which is to be embroidered flat, taut, and secured while it is being embroidered. This hooping process is also necessary to properly orient the area of the object to be embroidered with respect to the hoops. In particular, after the object to be embroidered is hooped, it is typically placed within an embroidery machine and secured therein by one or more fasteners. The fasteners mate or secure the hoops and object to the machine while the object is being embroidered.
Many devices have been developed for properly orienting and hooping objects to be embroidered. Examples of such devices and methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,111 issued to Guenther and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/127,272, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference insofar as they relate to the process and devices for hooping objects. Orienting and hooping devices and methods such as these normally require that at least one of the hoops used to hoop an object be secured to a work surface during at least part of the hooping operation. To secure the hoop, one or more brackets are typically used. The bracket(s) is usually secured to the hoop and to the work surface via one or more releasable fasteners as described below.
In the normal operation of the orienting and hooping devices just mentioned, one or more brackets are first positioned upon a work surface and fastened thereto via fasteners. For example, the fasteners can be screws which are passed through holes within the bracket(s) and then through precisely spaced and positioned holes in the work surface. Next, one hoop is attached at one or more attachment positions (usually integral with the hoop) to the bracket(s). Then, the object to be embroidered is placed or draped over the secured hoop, and the second hoop is pressed on top of the object and into or around the first hoop. Finally, the hooped object is removed from the work surface by releasing the first hoop from the bracket(s).
It should be noted that the manners by which hoops are attached and/or released from an embroidery machine on one hand and a bracket attached to a hooping device work surface on the other hand often differ significantly. This difference has created a problem in the art to which the present invention is addressed. Specifically, one common type of conventional attachment device used for hoops is illustrated in FIG. 1. To attach the hoop 1 to an embroidery machine (not shown), the attachment device 2 is slid in the direction indicated by arrow A on FIG. 1. By sliding the hoop 1 and the attachment device 2 in this direction, a mating part of the embroidery machine is caught between the wedge 3 and the flat surface 4 of the attachment device 2, thereby securing the hoop 1 to the embroidery machine. To release the hoop 1 from the embroidery machine, the user slides the hoop 1 and the attachment device 2 in an opposite direction indicated by arrow B on FIG. 1. Other attachment devices similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are well known to those skilled in the art, and operate in much the same manner. For example, the V-shaped wedge 3 shown by way of example in FIG. 1 is only one type of wedge commonly used in such attachment devices 2. Other wedge shapes (such as rounded, rectangular, square, etc.) are possible and exist in the art. Unfortunately, the sliding motion required by the conventional attachment device 2 is often not preferred to attach and detach the hoop 1 from a bracket (not shown) attached to a hooping device work surface. In particular, certain objects positioned or draped over a hooping device cannot easily be moved with the attached hoops in the directions indicated by arrows A and B on FIG. 1. For example, the object being hooped can bind upon the hooping device if shifted in the directions indicated by arrows A and B, or the object can be too tight upon the hooping device to easily shift in such directions. Forcing such an object to shift in such directions can pull the object out of the hoops or disorient the object within its place between the hoops. Therefore, although the attachment device 2 may attach in a manner well suited to embroidery machines, the attachment device 2 may not attach or detach in a manner well suited for operations upon a hooping device work surface.
Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus and method for securing a hoop (and attached object to be embroidered) to a hooping device work surface which permits easy installation and removal of the hoop without the need for shifting the hoop and object and without pulling the object out of its hoops or distorting the object within the hoops. Such an apparatus and method would ensure that the hoops and object are adequately secured to the hooping device work surface throughout normal hooping operations, yet would be engageable to and releasable from the work surface with minimal movement and effort. The present invention provides such an apparatus and method.